Have you ever been to a place where you have encountered wildlife in the streets?

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Wild Deer Roam Free Here.

When you arrive in Nara city center/Nara Park, you will be welcomed and greeted by wild deer in the streets!

Image above; This is a photo I took up close and personal with one of the friendly Deer in Nara Park. Just be prepared to give them something to eat.

A Short Walk To Nara Park

Stepping off the train at Nara station, we are handed a map and informed that Nara city center is only a short 10 minute walk away. We slowly make our way up the main street, and stop by at some of the interesting shops along the way. Inside one of them I tested out a couple of calligraphy brush pens which I purchased.

We then stopped at a small local cafe/restaurant about half way to the center. A sign outside indicated a lunch special, and we were pretty hungry at this point, so we went inside.

This small little restaurant reminded me of one of the little coffee shops you stumble across when walking through the city streets of Melbourne in Australia.

Vegetable tempura, rice, soup and salad was for lunch. It was actually pretty delicious. Did you notice the never-seen-before Japanese touch of cornflakes on top of the salad?

We finished our lunch and continued along the path to Nara Park. Along the way we discover this sign, letting us know how far away the main attractions are.

Beautiful Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) are you paying attention or are you distracted on your smart phone?

I had to stop and take some photos of these cherry blossoms on the trees!

We arrived here at the start of Spring, and you could see the colour was slowly bursting out in some areas of Japan. This added touch provided by nature only adds to the already aesthetically pleasing sights of cultural Japan and it's landscape.

The Japanese and the rest of the world who visit seem to be utterly captivated by the appearance of Cherry Blossoms when they are in full bloom. And rightly so, they serve as a special reminder of something magnificent, a stunning creation by nature, which lasts only for a fleeting moment in time before it dies.

Time on Earth is Precious

What does this remind you of? What if we marveled just a little more from time to time, at the incredible creation that we are, that our mind's and body's are, what we are capable of, our potential, creativity, capacity to love, learn and grow, what we can experience as human beings?

We too are only here for a little while, do we appreciate every day and do all we can to really live life with enthusiasm, appreciation, vitality, health, well being and high self esteem?

The Meaning Of Cherry Blossoms

Check out this blog post to learn more about The Meaning of Cherry Blossoms in Japan.

We were able to see White, Pink and 'Red' cherry blossoms during our visit to Nara. Cherry blossoms are very iconic of Japan, and you can see the cultural influence in many areas of Japanese art and design.

Making Friends With The Locals.

That's a photo of me taking the photo of the deer up close, at the top of this post.

As you walk around, lots of friendly deers will casually stroll up towards you and seek out some food. There will be older Japanese lady's offering you to buy some snacks from them to feed the animals, and most people do. Whether you do or don't feed them, the deers will likely follow you along anyway as you explore the City's temple sites and interesting, quirky art & craft shops along the way.

The deers seemed very peaceful, curious of humans, and non-aggressive (because they are being fed?). Although there are warning signs scattered around the park, parents still allow their children to go up to and feed them regardless.

Just casually passing through the crowd of humans.

Onto Nara's UNESCO'S World Heritage Temples, Kofukuji Temple 5 Story Pagoda

Nara boasts some of Japan's finest cultural & traditional architecture and design, and this 2nd tallest Pagoda in Japan is just one example of them.

You can learn more about the history of Kofukuji Temple here.

To be continued...

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